Both Lyons Mite Teams make it to Monday in the Lyons Youth Tournament

There is so much young baseball talent in the Lyons Recreation Department that two Mite teams have made it into the final three teams remaining in the Blue and the Red Divisions of the 54th annual Lyons Youth Tournament.

The Red Mites lost to Wheeler County 8-4 on Friday. On Saturday the Red Mites hit the ball better and pulled out two one-run victories- 14-13 over Soperton and 12-11 against Glennville. In their final game of the day they avenged their four-run loss to Wheeler with a 19-5 win. D.J. Austin, who was a member of the 2015 Lyons Flea state championship team, hit two home runs over the fence on Field 3.

The Red Mites will play Jenkins County on Monday at 2 p.m. on Field 2. The winner will play Statesboro for the championship needing two victories to take the title.

The Blue Mites are in the same position as the Reds. They will play Statesboro on Monday at 3 p.m. and the winner gets Appling County in the championship match up. Appling edged Statesboro 6-5 on Saturday.

Kameron Clark runs down a Appling base runner between first and second

The Blue Mites opened up their Saturday with a 6-1 loss to Appling on Field 2. They moved to the losers bracket and to Little Fenway and defeated Vidalia 12-6.

Brantley Upshaw gets ready to crush a pitchThe ball leaves Upshaw’s bat and sails way over the Green MonsterUpshaw gets a touch from coach Keith Mosley and then joins his teammates at home plate

Brantley Upshaw (3-for-4) hit a three-run homer way up and over the Green Monster in the first inning. Lyons scored seven more runs in the top of the second to take a 10-4 lead. Cameron Harris (3-for-4) singled in a pair of runs. Lyons didn’t score in the third or fourth innings and then the boys scored single runs in the fifth and sixth.

Kip Mosley, who went 3-for-4 at the plate, made two spectacular catches in left center field for the first and the final out of the fourth inning. Shortstop Jesus Quintero (2-for-3) ended the game with a sensational grab, sliding on his knees in right center.

In their third game of the day, back on Field 2, Lyons beats Reidsville 5-3. Lyons scored a pair of runs,with two down in the first inning, on singles by Gage Brantley and Dawson McLendon. The score remained 2-0 until the top of the fifth when Lyons scored three runs. Mosley (3-for-3) singled in one, Upshaw (2-for-3) drove in another and Brantley (2-for-3) had a RBI single.

The Lyons infield defense was amazingly busy. Quintero successfully handled nine grounders at short and Trayvonne Harris gobbled up six at third base. Y-101 play-by-play

Cameron Harris, Kip Mosley and Brantley Upshaw are all smiles after beating Vidalia and Reidsville